


it feels so right now (hold me tight)

by Notabeautifullittlefool



Category: DC's Legends of Tomorrow (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - No Powers, F/F, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-15
Updated: 2019-06-01
Packaged: 2020-03-05 23:00:10
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,254
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18838543
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Notabeautifullittlefool/pseuds/Notabeautifullittlefool
Summary: Ava Sharpe is a junior partner at one of the most prestigious law firms in Star City at only 29. She's not stressed- she just leads a high stress life. There's a difference.Sara Lance is a 25 year old second year PT student at Star City University, trying to make some extra money to keep her student loan costs down.ORThe AU where Sara is a professional cuddler and Ava is too stressed for her own good until Nora intervenes.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So this is my first fic since my capstone is finally (WOO) finished! It's been a while since I've had a chance to really sit down and write for fun, so please be patient with me as I get back into it. 
> 
> I can't promise any sort of regular update schedule, but I'll try and aim for twice a month when possible. Maybe a little more frequently than that, but like I said- no promises (I'm in the process of moving and starting a new job, so life is a little hectic lol). 
> 
> For @denoument because this AU was her idea, I just hijacked it. Thanks pats.

“Happy birthday.”

 

A thin envelope lands on Ava’s desk. She replies without even looking up from her computer.

 

“Birthday was 5 months ago.”

 

Nora, her best friend, sighs dramatically. “Fine. Merry Christmas?”

 

“It’s August.”

 

Groaning at Ava’s unwillingness to cooperate, Nora flops down into the chair on the other side of Ava’s desk with a long suffering sigh. “Fuck it. Happy Obama’s birthday. Just open the damn envelope!”

 

Ava looks up at Nora, eyebrows furrowed. “Obama’s birthday? Really?”

 

“Well, it is, and it deserves to be celebrated so now please open your gift because I’m dying over here, Sharpe.”

 

Ava smirks as she picks the envelope up and makes a show of examining it, holding it up to the light and turning it over in her hands several times. After dragging it out as long as possible, she finally opens the envelope, unwilling to admit her own curiosity was piqued. Nora wasn’t usually one for random gifts, or gifts at all really. “ _ Getting to spend time in my presence is the true gift, Ava,” _ she had once told her. Her expression quickly morphs from intrigued to puzzled as she pulls out what looks like four vouchers. She scans the top one and looks up at Nora, confused and mildly horrified.

 

“What is this?” She gestures to the vouchers in her hand.

 

Nora smirks, clearly fighting to hold in laughter. “Your Obama’s Birthday day gift. I thought we just covered this?”

 

Ava stares at her unblinkingly. “These are vouchers for four sessions with a professional cuddler,” she says, her voice low and level. 

 

Nora stares back at her, meeting her gaze with a snarky look. “The rumors are true- you really can read.” Ava glares at her. “It’s something I saw an ad for online. You’re way too stressed, and it looked like it might be something to help you relax for the first time since elementary school. You’re the youngest person to make junior partner at the firm, and I know you love it, but you’re always so stressed. Seriously, someday someone’s going to have to go all Gordian Knot on the knots in your back if you don’t relax a little.”

 

Ava, who had her hands in her head, looks up at Nora, her expression no longer one of anger but confusion. 

 

“‘Go all Gordian Knot’ on my back? Seriously?”

 

Nora shrugs. “It’s the only way they’ll be able to untangle them.”

 

“Nora, that would mean they’re slicing my back in half. I’d be dead, who would care about knots in my muscles at that point?!” Ava replies. Nora’s response is to simply quirk her eyebrow and watch as Ava’s expression changes to one of realization. “You’re implying I’ll only relax when I’m dead, aren’t you?”

 

“If the shoe fit-” Ava interrupts her before she can finish her sentence.

 

“Nora I swear to God if you don’t stop with the metaphors I will assign Gary to be your personal paralegal for the rest of the year!” 

 

Nora raises her hands in surrender. No amount of teasing was worth that threat. As she leaves Ava’s office, she stops before pulling the door closed, her face oddly serious. “Just consider it, that’s all I’m asking. I’ll deny it if you ever mention it again, but you’re my best friend, and I worry about how hard you’re pushing yourself.” Not waiting to see Ava’s reaction, Nora pulls the door fully shut and leaves Ava alone to consider her words. 

 

This is ridiculous. She’s not overly stressed- she simply leads a high stress life, so her response is perfectly normal considering the circumstances. She is 29, a junior partner at the most respected law firm in Star City for god’s sake. She does not need sessions with a “professional cuddler” to relax her. If anything, being in such close proximity to a stranger would make her more stressed. 

 

Ava considers throwing the vouchers away. She’s never going to use them, so what’s the point in cluttering up her desk? But then she thinks of Nora and her uncharacteristically sincere words as she left. 

 

Sighing, she sets them off the side of the desk and resolves to ignore them. There’s absolutely no world in which she uses them, no matter how much Nora begs her.

  
  
  
  
  
  


Ava sighs in relief as she gets back to the safety and peace of her office. The last two weeks had been an absolute nightmare: her caseload had doubled when another lawyer suddenly got sick, Gary broke her coffee machine by putting butter in it  _ again _ , and to top it all off, her client had refused the plea deal she arranged. 

 

She sets her briefcase down on her desk as she pulls out her files from court, quickly setting them into piles for which she needed to have the paralegals scan and shred in the morning. With that done, she pulls out her phone and texts Nora. 

 

_ Thai or Chinese tonight? _

 

_ Thai, the usual order. I’ve got the wine. _

 

_ Alright. I’ll be over by 7:15. I’ll bring an extra bottle. _

 

_ Week’s been that bad huh? Just let yourself in as always. _

 

Ava puts her phone away and calls the Thai place around the corner, placing their usual order, staring at the envelope on the corner of her desk the whole time.

  
  
  
  
  
  


Ava opens the door to Nora’s townhome and walks in at exactly 7:14pm. She toes off her shoes in the entryway and makes her way to the kitchen, take out and wine in hand. Walking into the kitchen, Nora immediately greets her with a full glass of wine, taking the food out of her hands with an eager expression. Ava takes a sip of the wine and hums appreciatively. Nora’s taste in wine never disappoints. 

 

Nora quickly plates the food and passes off one plate to Ava as they both head to the living room, both wine bottles securely in hand. They try and get together like this every other week- pick up take out from one of their favorite places, get a bottle or two of wine, and catch up on their lives to make sure they don’t get too wrapped up in work. So it wasn’t altogether unusual for Ava to text about a night like this; except, they just did this last week. 

 

As they settle in on the couch, Nora wastes no time in pointing this out. “So, I know I’m a delight and you’d happily spend every moment of your limited free time with me, but what’s brought on the emergency best friend night?” 

 

Ava’s guilty expression-  _ honestly, Nora doesn’t know how the woman manages to be a highly successful lawyer when she is literally incapable of even pretending to lie _ \- coupled with her cheeks stuffed full of curry has Nora struggling not to laugh in Ava’s face. 

 

“Not that I don’t love hanging out with you, but departing from your typical schedule usually means something’s up. So what is it?”

 

Ava finishes her mouthful of curry and opens her mouth, ready to explain, before thinking better of it and grabbing her glass of wine. She downs the whole glass in one go, much to Nora’s surprise, and when she turns to face her, Nora’s eyes are comically wide. 

 

“Shit. Did you kill someone?”

 

Nora’s question immediately breaks through Ava’s lingering anxiety. “What the hell, Nora?! Of course not! What kind of question is that?”

 

Nora raises her hands and shrugs. “Daughter of a crime lord, remember? Plus I figure it’s better to be prepared. I have contingency plans in place, just on the off chance, so the better I can activate them, the better it is for everyone.”

 

Ava looks at Nora in disbelief. “Contingency pla- Nope. I don’t want to know. Plausible deniability.” 

 

Taking a sip of her wine, Nora agrees. “Probably best if you don’t. So if it’s not murder, what’s got you so nervous you called an impromptu hangout?” 

 

Ava pulls an envelope out of her pocket- it’s folded and well creased, obviously one she’s looked at many times- and shoves it toward Nora without looking at her, her words all coming out in a rush. “I don’t know how these things work. I tried looking it up, but the website didn’t have information on redeeming gift certificates, which seems like an oversight if you ask me, and I don’t have the specific order information because you did that, and after the other day I finally realized that maybe you have a point and I do stress too much and could use something to help me relax.” 

  
  


Nora blinks, holding the envelope as she takes a moment to process the influx of information Ava just told her. Slowly, the corners of her lips turn up and she grins. Ava takes that moment to chance a look at Nora, who hasn’t responded, and her eyes go wide. 

 

“No no no, this is why I didn’t want to tell you in the first place.” Nora’s smile grows bigger and more gleeful. “Eleanor Amelia Darhk do NOT gloat! If you do, I swear to god I will not watch the Puppy Bowl with you this year, do not test me!”

 

Nora pours them both another glass of wine as she grins. “That’s an empty threat and you know it, Sharpe. So you’re finally admitting I’m right! What finally did it?” She is unable to stop the Cheshire cat-like smile nearly breaking her face in two. Not that she really tries. 

 

Ava sighs and tells Nora about the last two weeks: her moron client, Gary’s ridiculous obsession with butter in coffee (that part Nora already knows- she’s been suffering the results of that disaster as well), and all the other little stressors in her life. But Ava knows Nora isn’t buying it when she gives her  _ that look _ . These are all fairly typical things in Ava’s life and have never been enough to make her break down and admit to her crushing stress, and Ava knows Nora is aware of this. 

 

Hiding her face in her hands, Ava groans and rushes through the explanation of what really put her over the edge: “ImayhavehadnaanxietyattackwatchingJrMasterchef.”

 

Nora is calmly sipping on her wine and rolls her eyes at Ava’s reluctance to tell her. “Alright, try that again but slower and without the hands in the way.”

 

Ava takes a deep breath and tries again. “I may have had an anxiety attack while I was watching Junior Masterchef and they were doing the mystery box challenge.” 

 

Nora chokes on her wine, clearly not expecting Ava’s answer, and tries to catch her breath, but she’s laughing too hard. “You  _ what?! _ ” she wheezes. 

 

“Oh don’t make me say it again! Besides, the kids are all so stressed out, and they’re so worried they’re not going to finish on time. Plus, this one kid’s steak caught on fire with 10 minutes left- it was really stressful!” 

 

Tears are streaming down Nora’s face as she tries to pull herself together, but the mental image keeps sending her back into near hysterics. Ava grumbles to herself and resumes eating her curry, sending glares in Nora’s direction every few seconds when she starts laughing again. 

 

“I hate you,” Ava says, though there’s no real venom behind her words.

  
  
  


 

 

 

When Nora finally calms down- and Ava’s nearly cleaned her plate- she looks back at the envelope she’s been clutching in her hands. “So you want me to finally schedule the professional cuddler-” Ava groans at the term. “- because you were so stressed you had a sympathy attack for the children cooking on the TV?” At Ava’s responding glare, she chuckles. “Just checking I had all the facts.

 

“It’s really easy. I have the confirmation email from the girl you’re scheduled with, so I can just send her three days that work for you. I’ll just include your email so that you two can communicate directly from now on instead of through me.”

  
  


“That is weirdly easy… So why didn’t you just give me her email with the vouchers so I could set this up myself?”

 

“Two reasons. One, I didn’t trust you not to email her and request a refund.”

 

“Fair,” Ava concedes.

 

“And two, this way is so much more fun for me!”


	2. Chapter 2

Sara drops her suitcase inside her apartment and leans against the door with a huff. A 6 week clinical on its own would have been exhausting, but she just spend her last 6 weeks in a neurological inpatient facility in Central City, which meant she lived with her mother for the last 6 weeks. To say she is exhausted is putting it mildly. 

 

After she takes a moment to breathe, she walks straight to the washing machine and dumps the contents of her suitcase into it, starting the load. She collapses onto her bed and pulls her laptop out of her backpack onto her lap. Her studio apartment may be small, but it feels like the most space she’s had to herself in weeks and she couldn’t be more grateful for it. 

 

All she wants to do is open Netflix and watch some mindless tv while her laundry is going, but she knows she should check her work email first. She set it with an automatic away response for the last six weeks, so she’s sure she’s going to have a flood of emails to deal with. To her surprise and relief, her inbox only has 15 unopened emails waiting for her, most of which aren’t relevant anymore. The most recent one catches her eye though as she scrolls through. 

 

Quickly skimming it, she realizes it’s a request from someone who bought gift vouchers to set up an appointment, and the woman thought to include contact information for the recipient so Sara could respond to her directly. 

 

She pulls up her calendar and checks the email again- apparently the gift recipient- Ms. Sharpe- is free Wednesdays and Thursdays after 6 and weekends after 2. Sara settles on the upcoming Saturday, 4 days away, and emails Ms. Sharpe to let her know.

 

_ Hi Ms. Sharpe, _

 

_ This is Sara Lance with Cuddle Me Beebo. Your friend, Ms. Darhk, mentioned your schedule so let’s plan on this Saturday at 3pm, as long as that works for you. We can meet at your place or a hotel- your choice. Please just let me know your preference by Friday afternoon along with the address. It’s best to wear comfortable clothes, like yoga pants or leggings, whatever you’re most comfortable in. Hear from you soon, and thanks for picking Cuddle Me Beebo! _

 

_ -Sara Lance _

 

She reads over the email before nodding in approval and sending it. With that taken care of, she immediately opens up Netflix and scrolls through to find a new show to start.

  
  
  


Halfway through her episode of Nailed it!, Sara notices the email notification that pops up in the corner of her screen. She gives it a long looks before refocusing on the absolute disasters happening on the show. She’ll check and respond to it after this episode is over. 

 

Three episodes later, Sara remembers to check and respond to the email notification from earlier. She pauses the episode, laughing to herself at the cake the bakers are expected to make and their horrified reactions, and switches over to her email account. She clicks on the most recent one and quickly reads it through:

 

_ Ms. Lance, _

 

_ Saturday at 3 pm is satisfactory. We can meet at my house. I’ll send you the address Saturday morning.  _

 

_ Best, _

_ Ava Sharpe _

 

Well, that’s certainly right to the point. At least everything is confirmed now so she doesn’t have to stress about it later. 

 

Sara closes her email and settles into her bed, resuming her episode and ready to laugh at the undoubtedly disastrous cakes about to happen. 

  
  
  
  
  
  


Pulling up to the address Ava sent her, Sara is amazed at how high end it looks- the neighborhood is definitely on the nicer side, and the townhouse that she’s parked in front of probably -definitely- costs more than a whole year’s tuition for her. She looks at her phone to double check the address. Definitely at the right place, then. She looks at her watch. 2:57 pm.

Right on time. Grabbing her backpack out of the passenger seat of her car, she walks up to the front door and rings the bell. 

  
  
  
  
  


The doorbell draws Ava’s attention away from her review of the next week’s case notes as she remembers who is likely standing outside her door. She closes and puts away her laptop before moving to answer the door. With a deep breath, she opens it.

  
  


Sara shifts her backpack over her shoulder as the door opens, revealing a tall, gorgeous blonde on the other side. Sara kicks herself into gear. She sticks her hand out and introduces herself. 

 

“Hi, I’m Sara Lance, from Cuddle Me Beebo. Are you Ava?”

  
  


After opening the door, the only thing running through Ava’s head is  _ Shit! She’s hot! _

Which of course is a problem because she’s expected to cuddle up to this woman for the next two hours, at least according to Nora’s voucher. 

  
  


Ava stands still in the open doorway, gaping and not responding. Sara clears her throat and raises her eyebrows, glancing down at her still extended hand. 

 

“You  _ are _ Ava Sharpe, right? Because if not, this might be a little awkward depending on how much she told you,” she laughs. 

 

Her comments shake Ava out of her stupor. A little embarrassed for having been caught gaping, nods and immediately thrusts her hand forward and shakes Sara’s. 

 

“ _ You’re _ Sara Lance?”

 

Sara nods and raises an eyebrow, smirking. “Well, I was last time I checked.” 

 

Ava’s mind is running on overdrive. “But you’re so…-”  _ Don’t say hot don’t say hot say literally anything other than hot  _ “-short!” At the look on Sara’s face, Ava instantly realizes that was the exact wrong thing to say. But it’s not like she can explain her reasoning and tell her she panicked when confronted with an unexpectedly attractive woman on her doorstep there for the sole purpose of cuddling, right?

  
  


“ _ Excuse me? _ ” Sara’s relaxed and easy attitude disappears instantly, replaced with irritation.  _ This bitch! _ she thinks. 

  
  


Though, now Ava thinks about it, the woman really  _ is _ tiny. 

“Just, how is that supposed to work, I mean you’re so small so how can you possibly make the logistics of all this happen?”

  
  


“I am exactly the average height for an American woman, thank you very much! You’re the one that’s weirdly tall. You’re like a freaking giraffe!”

 

“I’m only a few inches taller than the average!” Ava responds angrily. She had hoped they could move past her mistake and not mention it again, but apparently not! 

 

“Yeah, like I said, you’re weirdly tall, with your gangly arms and legs that go on for miles!”

 

“Well what kind of company is named ‘Cuddle Me Beebo’ anyway?! It sounds more like a children’s toy than a respectable business!”

 

“I didn’t name it! I just work for them!” Sara rebuts, jaw clenched.  _ This woman is unbearable! I can’t believe I thought she was hot- okay, she is, objectively, but that’s not important. And I have to spend how much time with her again? _

 

Sara and Ava stand glaring at each other, seething, until Sara finally looks away, pressing her fingers against the bridge of her nose. After a few deep breaths, she finally looks back at Ava and grits her teeth.

 

With her best fake smile in place, she stretches out her hand. “Hello Ms. Sharpe. I’m from Cuddle Me Beebo. I believe we have an appointment for today.” 

 

Sara watches as Ava’s irritated expression gives way to an impervious mask and she stretches out a hand to meet Sara’s. “Ms. Lance. Please, come in.” She moves out of the doorway and gestures for Sara to come inside. 

 

Sara walks into Ava’s house and drops her backpack on the floor before turning around to face Ava. Ava pointedly eyes the bag and then glances back up at Sara. 

 

“Is there somewhere else I should put this? I came from the library, and I don’t like to leave my computer in the car in case it gets overheated.” 

 

Ava walks further into the house, her voice carrying as she speaks. “You can put it in the kitchen. No sense leaving it lying on the floor.”

 

Sara rolls her eyes and grabs the bag by a strap, following Ava into the kitchen with a huff. This was going to be a long appointment. 

  
  
  
  


Sara drops her bag in a chair and turns to Ava, who is drinking from a glass of water. “So, should we just get right to it?” She smirks as Ava chokes on her water and blushes a fierce red. Biting back a laugh, Sara clarifies. “The cuddling- should we just go ahead and get to it? It’s a little less awkward if you jump straight in and don’t let yourself get hung up on the whole ‘cuddling with a stranger’ thing.” 

 

“Right, yes of course,” she says as she set her glass in the sink. “Let’s do it then.” 

 

Sara grabs a stack of flashcards out of her backpack. “So, couch or bed? Generally, people prefer to put on a show or a movie or something, just as a distraction. It helps put them more at ease.”

 

Ava nods. “I think the couch would be best, at least for now?” She rubs the back of her neck, avoiding eye contact with Sara as she continues, “It’s right through here.” She points through a doorway and gestures for Sara to follow her, walking into her living room. 

  
  
  


Ava stops in front of her couch and looks at Sara. “How do we, uh. How do we do this?”

 

Sara can tell Ava is genuinely ill at ease- not just uncomfortable as a result of her teasing. She takes a step closer and gives Ava a small but genuine smile. 

 

“Well, do you like to hold your partner or be held? I find that’s usually a good place to start, and we can adjust from there based on what you’re comfortable with. So, big spoon or little spoon?” Sara smirks up at Ava and waggles her eyebrows, pleased when Ava laughs and seems to relax a little at Sara’s antics.

 

Rolling her eyes with an exaggerated sigh, Ava answers her. “I like both, but I suppose this whole-” she waves her hand around in front of her. “-thing would probably work best if you…”

 

“...are the big spoon to your giraffe-like little spoon?” Sara finishes for her.

 

Ava glares. “You’re insufferable. I was going to say it seems like it would be a better use of this...session if you’re doing the holding, if only because the whole point is that I’m supposed to find this relaxing, right?” Sara nods, shrugging her shoulders. “Though how I’m supposed to relax with a stranger holding me is absolutely beyond me. I swear I’m going to kill Nora.” she mutters under her breath. 

  
  


“Easy enough then,” Sara answers. She quickly settles on the couch tucking one leg under her as she leans against the armrest. Grabbing one of the pillows that decorate the couch, she sets it in her lap and beckons Ava over. 

“Am I-” Ava points at the pillow on Sara’s lap. “-I mean, where should I?

 

“It’s just that this is so far from anything I would normally ever do, so I have no idea what I’m meant to be doing here, and it’s all a bit strange and uncomfortable, so…” She trails off, rubbing the back of her neck again as her cheeks flush. 

 

Sara sighs, grabbing Ava’s hand and pulling her down to sit next to her on the couch. “Look, Ava. Cuddling up to a stranger is weird and uncomfortable, even for me, and it’s my job. So just get past the mental hurdle- pick out a show you’ve been meaning to start or finish on Netflix and we’ll watch that and take your mind off it, yeah?”

 

“Fine, I can do that.”

 

“Great. Now what shows have you been meaning to finish lately?” Sara asks as she maneuvers them back down onto the couch so Ava is laying with her head in Sara’s lap, one of Sara’s arms settling lightly on her back.

 

“I don’t really have time to watch TV,” Ava admits sheepishly.

 

Sara looks down at Ava, eyebrows raised in disbelief. “Seriously? Not even a trashy guilty pleasure show?”

 

“Nope, like I said. Not really much time.”

 

Sara thinks for a minute before responding. “Alright, I know just the thing. Super relaxing, plus it seems like the kind of thing you’d be into.” 

 

Ava hands her the remote. “I can’t decide if that’s an insult or not,” she muses as Sara pulls up the first episode of The Great British Bake Off. 

 

“Okay, normally it probably would be because you don’t seem like we’d have the same taste, but I actually love this show,” she admits, chuckling. She sets the remote down and her hand slowly strokes up and down Ava’s back as she feels her finally relaxing against her. 

 

“I guess I can give it a shot then. I do love baking shows.” She lets out a deep breath as the opening music plays, mentally cursing Nora for ever giving her these stupid vouchers in the first place, no matter how much her stress levels may thank her in the future. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed it! Comments/kudos are always appreciated, if you're so inclined. 
> 
> As always, find me on tumblr on the same username and on twitter @chanandaler94

**Author's Note:**

> And so it begins!
> 
> Don't worry, Sara's going to be around a lot more starting next chapter. Just wanted to set things up, and I love the idea of an Ava and Nora friendship. 
> 
> As always, find me on tumblr on the same username and on twitter @chanandaler94


End file.
